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J. M. LEWIN. Bottle Stopper and Fastening. No. 230,791. Patented Aug. 3,1880.

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UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

JOHN M. LElVIN, OF LOCKPORT, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HISRIGHT TO JOHN BAXTER NAISMI'IH, OF SAME PLACE.

BOTTLE STOPPER AND FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,791, dated August3, 1880.

Application filed June 3, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN M. LEWIN, ofLockport, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements on a Bottle Stopper and Fastening;and I do hereby declare that the following description of my saidinvention,

taken in connection with the accompanying sheet of drawings, forms afull, clear, and exact specification, which will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention has general reference to bottle-stoppers, andparticularly to that class of stoppers used for closing bottlescontaining sparkling liquids, which are filled with said liquids whenthe latter are under tension or pressure in a so-calledbottlirig-machine.

The object of my said invention is the production of a stopper of thekind described capable of being passed through the charging-cylinderduring the filling operation and then removably secured to the bottle bymeans on the exterior of said bottle before said bottle is removed fromthe bottling-machine.

In the drawings already referred to, Figure l is a side elevation of abottle and its stopper and fastening, showing the latter as applied tothe bottle. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same, the fasteningbeing shown in position for application. Fig. 3 is a plan of the stopperand fastening, the head of the stopper being shown removed and the stemor neck drawn in section. Fig. at is a sectional elevation of thestopper detached, and Fig. 5 a similar view of the same as inserted intothe neck of a bottle.

Like parts are designated by corresponding letters of reference in allthe figures.

A is the usual fibottle, containing or to be filled with sparklingliquids, such as pop,'soda and Seltzer waters, champagne, 850. It has onits neck B the usual neck-wire 0, provided with eyes I), wherein ispivoted alever, E. This lever has on opposite sides eyes F, where ,in ispivoted a yoke or bail, G, by means of pivots H, formed on the rods G,as clearly shown in the figures. The yoke has in itsmiddle aspring-clamp, l, by means of which it engages the stopper J, saidspring-clamp be- (No model.)

ing made entirely of wire in one piece with the yoke. To accomplish thisendI form in said yoke a double eye, K, and two jaws, L, said jaws andeyes standing at or nearly at right angles to the brace-rods G of saidyoke. 5 By this construction of the yoke thejaws L, standing at rightangles to the brace-rods G, act, in conjunction with the lever E, uponthe top surface of the stopper J to hold the same down, while the eyes Kin said yoke give elas- 6o ticity to the jaws L to embrace the neck M ofsaid stopper su'liiciently to hold the stopper removably to the yoke.

In operation, the stopper J is removed from the yoke, which can bereadily done, owing to the fact that the eyes K, acting as springs,allow thejaws L L to separate for a suflicient distance to pass the neckM. Now, the stopper is placed into the charging-cylinder of abottle-filling machine (not shown) in the same manner as the usual corkstopper, it filling the said cylinder nicely to prevent escape of liquidon the upper end of said cylinder. This being accomplished, the bottleis placed into position and filled in the usual manner, after which theplunger N is brought down to force the stopper through said cylinderinto the neck B of the bottle, which will thereby be hermeticallysealed; but since the pressure of the liquid within the bottle wouldforce the stopper out of the same as soon as the plunger N was removed,I attach the stopper to the bottle by the means described, lifting thelever E. so that the spring-clamps L of the yoke G may be passed overthe neck M,and then depressing said lever to cause the lower side of thejaws to press-upon the upper surface of the stopper with all the forcenecessary to hold said stopper in proper position after which the bottlemay be removed from the filling-machine withgo out fear of its ejectingthe said stopper.

To draw liquid from the bottle the lever E must be lifted. This willcause the upper side of the jaws L L to press against a head, P, on theneck M, and thereby to pull the stopper 5 out of the neck a sutiicientdistance to enable its entire removal; but since some persons11nacquainted with the operation of this fastening may, in order toremove the stopper, try to push on thejaws L, or since there might be apossibility of the jaws slipping off the stopper, and thereby to releasethe same, I have formed on the top surface of said stopper twooppositely-located lugs, B. These lugs are engaged by the U-shaped partsof said jaws, and thereby lock the yoke in position, preeluding thepossibility of its being pushed oif without first lifting the lever E,and with it the yoke G, sufficiently high to allow the U- shaped partsor jaws L L to pass over said lugs B. This construction is quite anessential feature in my device, since it materially increases itsefficiency and guards against accidental release of the stopper duringshipping.

The head or button 1?, already mentioned, has a tapering projection orshank, S, and a straight cylindrical portion, T, above. This I have thusconstructed to fit a correspondinglyshaped recess in the plunger N, andthereby to facilitate the stoppers passage through thecharging-cylinder, said button and projections preventing the stopperfrom falling over and thereby to wedge itself into the-said cylinder.Instead of these projections S T, as shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5, I mayform the head P with a curved top surface, as illustrated in Fig. 2,which will also perfectly center the stopper in the charging-cylinder,but may not be quite as positive in its action as the device heretoforedescribed.

Below the top surface of the stopper J, I have form ed a tapering part,U, and below that another tapering part, V, while below this is stillanother tapering inverted part, X, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. Thesetapering parts act, in conjunction with a rubber packing-ring, Y,embracing the tapering parts mentioned, in such manner that when theplug J is depressed the said packing-ring will be expanded, and therebywedge itself tightly into the mouth of the bottle.

On the lower edge of the elastic packingring Y, I have formed a neck, Z,Fig. 4, and below that a projecting flange, Z. This neck and flange actwithin the neck of the bottle in the following manner: The flange Z,being larger in external diameter than the internal size of the neck, iscaused to bend upward, as shown in Fig. 5, when the stopper isbeinginserted into said bottle, and thereby to collapse sufficientlyinto the neck Z to enable said stopper to enter. The tendency of saidflange is to always resume its original position as shown in Fig. 4, andthereby presses with considerable force against the interior of the neckB, and increases the tightness of the stopper.

It will now be readily observed that with this stopper I am enabled touse a fastening on the exterior of the bottle, that I can remove thestopper from its fastening, and then pass it through thecharging-cylinder to finally again attach it to the fastening, there byusing but one permanent stopper.

Having thus fully described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure to me by Letters Patent of theUnited States- 1. A bottle-stopper fastening in which the yoke isprovided with spring clamps constructed to embrace the stopper aroundits neck for more than one-half of its periphery, whereby the saidstopper can be readily affixed to and removed from the yoke, asspecified.

2. A bottle-stopper fastening consisting, essentially, of the yoke G,having the doublecoiled eye K and U-shaped jaws L, constructed toembrace the neck M of the stopper for more than, one-half of itsperiphery, in combination with the stopper J, having the said neck M andshoulder P, as described.

3. A bottle-stopper fastening consisting, essentially, of the yoke Gr,having the doublecoiled eye K and U-shaped jaws L, constructed toembrace the neck M of the stopper for more than one-half of itsperiphery, in combination with the stopper J, having said neck M andshoulder I and catch-lugs It, engaging the U-shaped jawsL and the leverE, the whole being constructed for joint operation substantially in themanner as and for the object specified.

at. The combination, with the bottle A, having the usual neck-wire O andlever E, of the yoke G, having jaws L L and spring K, and stopper J,with the neck M and shoulder P, as

specified.

5. The combination, with the bail G, having the U-shaped clamp L, of thestopper J, provided with the lugs R and the lever E, as described,whereby the yoke is locked in position upon the stopper, as stated.

6. An elastic stopper for bottles having an elastic central taperingbody, Y, provided with a flange, Y, on its upper end, with acircumferential groove, Z, near, and with a flange, Z, on its lower end,said stopper being fitted to a non-yielding central body having tapersto expand said elastic body, as stated.

7. An elastic stopper, consisting of an elastic central body, Y, havingnear its lower end a circumferential groove, Z, and terminating in aprojecting flange, Z, said body being fitted to a central non-yieldingplug having a flange, J, and double tapers U V of different angularity,said taper U being adapted to spread the upper part of the elastic bodyinto a flange, Y, and the taper V to expand the body Y, the whole beingconstructed for operation substantially in the manner as and for theobject specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my inventionI have hereto setmy hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN M. LEWIN. Attest:

MICHAEL J. STARK,

FRANK HIRsoH.

